President
Bush gravely warned House Democrats yesterday that America's
credibility would be shattered if the United States pulled its troops
from Iraq, forcing close ally Saudi Arabia to look elsewhere for
protection and potentially destabilizing Egypt, the region's most
populous country, according to participants in the meeting.

Oh,
so now we're at war in Iraq in order to protect Saudi Arabia and lend
stability to Egypt?

NEXT!!!

Oh come on, you knew that already didn't you?

Do you remember right after 9/11 when Bush picked up his bullhorn and
climbed up on a pile of smoking rubble and said:

"We now know why were
attacked. It's because Saudi Arabia lacks protection and Egypt requires
more stability. And we've decided what to do about it. So next month
we're gonna start bombing Afghanistan. And when we get tired of that,
we're gonna destroy Iraq."

[Bush] made it clear that he was simply informing Democrats of his decisions
on Iraq, not consulting with them.
He said that he understands the
challenges and thinks his plan has the best chance of success.

"He's made his decision," said Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.). "He's
going to put in more troops."
...
Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense
Secretary Robert M. Gates and White House Chief of Staff Joshua B.
Bolten attended the meeting. Tauscher said that Cheney emphasized his
concerns about Saudi Arabia.

Right. Now that's more like it.

There's almost always a nugget of truth in there somewhere.

This looks like another one:

A
senior official said the administration is struggling to keep a
supplemental budget request for Iraq and Afghanistan under $100
billion, as promised. Defense budget analysts outside the
administration say an increase of 20,000 troops for Iraq could add $6
billion to $10 billion to the 2008 budget.

So ... what's
another 20,000 lives and $6 to $10 billion a year, compared to the
security of Saudia Arabia and the stability of Egypt?